Part 7: Afterwards. . .
Operation Retrospective
Sunday, February 05, 2006
A few posts ago I asked why were the predictions of the oncologists and surgeon confounded? Was it one thing, or a combination of things? How do I relate whatever faith and trust in God I have to the many things we tried? Should I have trusted that God would honor the prayers of the hundreds of people that were praying for me?
God is certainly all-powerful and He can, just by speaking, create or, I suppose, destroy. He can, just by speaking, heal. But, from what I read in the Bible and have observed, God doesn’t get directly involved all that often. He seems to use His created beings, either angels or humans, to convey His messages and perform His work.
I have thought about that, but have not completely resolved it in my mind, so I won’t delve into it here, except to say that I think it has something to do with His love for all He creates, and His desire to involve them directly in His government.
It also seems to me that God rarely performs obvious miracles to accomplish His purpose. He seems to want to influence decisions in a way that His will, which just also happens to be what’s best for all concerned, is accomplished. To do this He will use many tools and circumstances.
In my case it seems to boil down to the following:
Prayer. There have been 3 or 4 church congregations, and now the one here in Mysore, praying for me at various times. In addition, there have been untold numbers of individuals, some of whom I don’t even know, praying for me, too.
I don’t know if prayers have a cumulative effect or not, but there seems to be some scientific basis to the effect of prayer on healing. I came across one web site that lists a number of studies that indicate that, assuming the information is correct. It is at http://www.plim.org/PrayerDeb.htm.
On the other hand, there is the counter at http://www.csicop.org/si/2004-09/miracle-study.html, but this refers only to one study and, although it casts an implication on others, it is not necessarily a valid implication.
One thing is certain: the Bible talks a lot about prayer and it seems to be important. In my case, I believe it was, and is, profoundly so.
However, how did God answer those prayers? Obviously, at this point there is no detectable evidence of cancer, so one could say the result was cure. In light of the prognostications about 7 months ago, it could be said that it is a miraculous result. I certainly believe so.
However, it wasn’t an instantaneous cure, and involved a lot of effort, mostly on the part of my wife, as well as others. The combination, in addition to prayer, and in no particular order, seems to be positive attitude (which many authors seem to feel is most important, and I believe it is certainly a key factor, maybe next in importance to prayer); using the Budwig diet (simple and lots of references on the internet); strict vegetarian diet except for the dairy in the Budwig diet; strict avoidance of processed and refined foods, especially sugar; freshly made vegetable juices; Ayurvedic medicines; loving support of family and friends (for which I am eternally grateful, and, I think, ranks high in importance); surgery and radiation (In my case, due to the incredibly rapid advance of the tumor and lack of response to the natural remedies I had at the time, I felt these were necessary. In other cases, I would avoid those, if at all possible. I will be suffering the adverse effects of those the rest of my life.); products from Glaepa Life, Jason Winters’ Tea, other herbs and dietary supplements too numerous to mention; and, oh, did I remember to mention prayer?
I think God led us to consider using all of these, and other, things for a reason. I just haven’t figured it all out yet. But, it seems clear to me that God wants us to work through things with the brains He gave us while, at the same time, being prepared to allow Him to do His will, whatever that might be, and trusting it will, ultimately, be best for us and those involved.
The other issue with which I am wrestling is,… well, the rest of my life. When one is told in no uncertain terms that one is going to die soon (as opposed to being subconsciously aware that one could be wiped out by an errant sidewalk cyclist or block of ice falling from an airliner), one does have to consider that possibility.
The one who pronounced the death sentence also counseled us to not waste time and effort searching for alternatives, but to do what we could to enjoy what time is left to me. That was, in fact, what a therapist I saw a few times did when he was given a death sentence because of the cancer he had. He sold his practice and went to live in Spain with his wife until he died. He didn’t die, and had to get back to work.
It appears that, in the not too distant future, I will also have to think about finding a way to support myself and my wife.
What can I take from the last two years? How will God want me to use it? What does He have in mind for me now?
Well, there is time enough for that after we have healed. In the meantime, as soon as we get the OK from the doctor, I think I will take Sandra to a long, sparkling beach beside the sea in Goa for a few weeks.
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